Don’t Be Dumb at Brunch: Janelle Monáe Came Out While Kanye West Continues to Confuse Us
It’s the weekend again! Since there’s so much happening in the world, we thought we’d get your back — and backside — on a few things that might come up this weekend at brunch. Whether it’s how Janelle Monáe came out, getting to know your ass better or talking about the ass-hat Kanye, here’s your crib sheet on the week’s events.
Here are the week’s 5 news stories that’ll keep you looking well-informed at brunch:
1. Let’s All Be “Free-Ass Motherfuckers”
After years of speculation, Janelle Monáe just came out in a Rolling Stone interview. She expresses her truth in a powerful way according to the piece saying, “I want young girls, young boys, nonbinary, gay, straight, queer people who are having a hard time dealing with their sexuality, dealing with feeling ostracized or bullied for just being their unique selves, to know that I see you. This album is for you. Be proud.”
Not only that, but she has evolved in many ways adding, “Being a queer black woman in America, someone who has been in relationships with both men and women – I consider myself to be a free-ass motherfucker.” At first aligning as bisexual, she recently had a discovery telling the world, “Later I read about pansexuality and was like, ‘Oh, these are things that I identify with too.’ I’m open to learning more about who I am.” Q.U.E.E.N indeed.
2. Get To the Bottom of It
There is no shame in being into butt. In fact, anal play feels amazing — and for a good reason. The skin around the anus is hyper-sensitive. (If you’ve every experienced the eyes-rolling-back-in-your-head pleasure of butt play, you know exactly what we’re talking about.)
But beyond basic hygiene and safety, there are some things you should know but maybe haven’t had the opportunity to ask about. Luckily, Dr. Evan Goldstein from Bespoke Surgical, a private gay proctological and anal surgery practice in New York City and Los Angeles, tells us about the three most-common anal issues in gay men and how to detect and treat them.
3. Alt-Right Crowdfunding Site Goes Quiet — Let’s Hope It’s Dead
Crowdfunding goes both ways. You can help out a family devastated by a tragedy — but, if you were so inclined, you could also support a white supremacy group hell-bent on promoting discrimination. Who would do such a thing? Well, Connor Douglass would. He founded MakerSupport, a crowdfunding site that looks innocuous at first, but has much darker connections when you peel back the layers.
Like Hatreon, another alt-right funding site, MakerSupport was created in response to crowdfunding platforms banning hate speech. However, so far the pro-hate crowdfunding sites have either failed or are looking that way. MakerSupport claims to be back soon, but we hope that pipe dream is simply that: a dream.
4. Banning, Then Banned
A recent ruling by a Manhattan Judge allows a ban on Trump supporters and Alt-Righters. This all stems from a gent named Greg Piatek. Piatek went to a bar, drank 17 beers and cocktails before he was asked to leave for wearing a Trump “Make America Great Again” hat.
He sued the bar for emotional damages, and his lawyer tried to frame the case as a religious freedom violation. We’re not sure where that lawyer’s from, but in America, political beliefs aren’t a protected class. Nor is the wearing of a MAGA hat a religious statement. Piatek (obviously) lost the case — but he did pay his bill and leave a tip.
The bigger question here is whether or not there’s a loophole in the law that would allow a potential ban against LGTBQ people. While there are legal protections based around “sex discrimination,” so-called “Religious Freedom” bills could have a critical impact on those protections.
5. Our Whack Job of the Week: Kanye West Goes South
We can’t with Kanye. It’s so hard to follow his logic. No doubt he’s talented and has built an empire and deserves, like all other Americans, to freely express his political affiliations. So when Kanye fawns on Trump and people decide to speak out and unfollow him, is the message clear? It’s not a Democrat or Republican issue. It’s a moral one. Do we know exactly what Kanye knows about Trump? He may be super-informed or (like most people) simply basing his support on straight political affiliation or on base-level information.
Regardless of that, the moral question comes into play. Do you stand with a guy that boasts about sexual abuse? Do you stand with a guy that has stacked the deck judicially in the country to be ultra conservative and harmful to people of color and the LGBTQ community? Do you stand with a guy that has repeatedly lied about so many issues that we can’t keep count? Because you have the right to do so… even if it’s morally bankrupt.
